


time follows you (and fades)

by thebestofme



Series: love is not over (at hogwarts, at least) [1]
Category: Mamamoo, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Constipation, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Pining, Slow Burn, Veela
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-13 08:51:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10510410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebestofme/pseuds/thebestofme
Summary: hp!au - how half-veela!jimin and yoongi fall in love in the slytherin common room.(or, two sides of one story: Jimin worries about the effects of his Allure and hides his veela nature; Yoongi loves Jiminie but is too confused by mixed signals to act on it).russian translation by vayana!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> twisting the au, so hogwarts is high school to college, based on korean school - so first year is grade 10
> 
> "veela are semi-human magical beings - physically perfect, aware how to increase their appeal by apparel, action or choice of words, but even these are simply details to enhance their natural appeal... veela have been known to marry wizards... Children of these unions are half-Veela, and they will inherit magical ability from their fathers and beauty and charm from their mothers."

Hogwarts is stunning. 

Over the span of his life, Park Jimin lived in three different mansions, each one belonging to a different stepfather. He’s used to unnecessary extravagance, the rich duvets, antique tapestries, and light curtains, all of the finest of cloth, yet still woven with the unmistakable feeling of loneliness. But nothing about Hogwarts was lonely. It seemed impossible, that a castle so overwhelmingly large and unknown could feel like home. But Park Jimin felt like he had just come home for the first time. 

The bright lights and laughter of the Great Hall thrums with magic. This, Jimin was used to. Taehyung, however, was still awestruck, and terrified, of the ghosts. This didn't stop him from striking a conversation with a fat, transparent monk. Taehyung was outgoing and charming; Jimin suspected his honesty ("You're so cute Jiminie, let's be friends!!") would endear the student body in no time. He hopes that he won't be left behind in the process. 

"...which house do you think I'll be in? Snakes are so cool! But my favorite color is blue!"

The pretty girl in front of him is smiling at Taehyung's blitheness, and Jimin feels his heart twinge. Her soft dimples and straight hair remind him of his mother. Her body shakes with laughter and Jimin has to push down the urge to hide her from the sight. If she was his mother, the filthy fantasies would be clouding everyone's eyes. 

"Ahn Hyejin!" 

A girl walks confidently to the stool. The Sorting Hat touches her cropped hair for a moment.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Jimin's father was a Gryffindor. He prays that he won't follow in his footsteps.

“Choi Youngjae!”

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

"Jung Wheein!" 

"SLYTHERIN!"

The dimpled girl, Wheein, walks to the table encompassed in emerald. She's sits next to a few older students with tattoos and dyed hair. They would look mean, but their smiles are youthful and happy, just like hers. 

"Kim Jisoo!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Kim Taehyung!"

Jimin watches his first friend rush to the stool, aura bright with excitement.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Taehyung leaps into the arms of a laughing Hufflepuff who looks like sunlight. Jimin feels a spark of jealousy. A flame brushes his insides. He takes a deep breath, and tries to get his Fire in control. It's day one, he can't fuck up on day one. 

"Park Jimin!"

Jimin stumbles up to and sits on the stool, too nervous to do anything but concentrate on his Fire, even as the Sorting Hat touches his head. Petty jealousy was not going to cost him his dreams. I don't have a place in the Wizarding World, his mother had whispered at King's Cross Station, but you do. Baby, you have your dreams, you just need to hide this. I love you. Jimin tries not to cry. 

A haggard laugh echoes in his mind. Ambitious.

"SLYTHERIN!"

  


  


Jimin was an angelic child, in looks and in bearing. He was irresistibly cute, his chubby cheeks, eye-smile and tinkling giggles. His grandmother had showered him with attention and love. No one knew that his anger would blaze, because for the first few years of his life, he didn't have any reason to have anger. 

Two months after his grandmother died, a month after his third birthday, his mother married the first of many successful Muggle men. Jimin didn't know what "marry" was, but Eomma had told him that they would be moving to a bigger house. That the Wizarding World was amazing, but it wasn’t safe for people like them. There had been a "marriage", where Eomma wore a pretty, pretty white dress and kissed a tall man. He was old, and ugly, but Jimin thought that it must be because his mother was so young and beautiful. But the way he stared at her, an ugly smirk and clouded eyes was scary.

Eomma told him he couldn't cuddle with her, that she was going to sleep with the scary man. Jimin hadn't slept alone before, and his nightlight wasn't making him feel less scared. Park Jiminie was a smart wizard, and all wizards know that Boggarts attack bad little boys. And he had been a bad boy today, accidently throwing his Fanged Frisbee into a wall, banging a deep dent into the wall of the staircase. Eomma would keep him safe.

It was late, so late it was almost early, when he stumbles out of his big bed with Mr. Handsome, his teddy bear, wrapped in his small arms. Mr. Handsome would get scared, all alone in the big room. There are shadows in the dining room. He leans a little past the doorway, stifling his giggles. He could surprise Eomma!

The man stood towering over his mother. Eomma looked terrified. Her moon-bright skin looked clammy and her sparkly eyes were glazed, picturesque, like a doll, pretty in pink, motionless. The chandelier, so pretty in the daylight, looked haunting in the night, an ominous presence catching the light. Jimin wants to hug her better. His mother is the best in the world, and she deserves to be happy all the time.

"What did you expect? You can't really think you have a choice." The man is laughing, but it sounds mean. He looks at Eomma like she's stupid. Jimin feels prickly irritation. 

The man - the evil man- is advancing on his mother. Eomma's face dulls like she was expecting this. Jimin's fear abruptly sharpened into dark anger. Who did this evil man think he was? Why was he making his mother look like this? Jimin's palms felt hot. The man forcefully tilted his mother's face up, brushing her hair back like she was his doll. Eomma stared past his shoulder, her lovely face emotionless.

Jimin’s small fingers clutched Mr. Handsome tighter. His hands felt hot, everything felt hot, hot, hot. Eomma looked like she was trying not to cry. Something smelled something weird, a sharp scent, smoky like the fireplace. The evil man smirked, leaning down until his face is inches from Eomma. She shudders.

He looks down. Mr. Handsome was on fire. His anger gave way to fear, and he screams.

Tears streamed down his chubby cheeks. Eomma was cradling him in her arms, cooing and wiping his face gently. The evil man was backing away, yelling.

"You said he was normal! He's obviously not, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"He didn't show signs of having Fire before, only Allure! Stop! He'll be okay. I'll teach him to control it. My darling, my Jimin-ah. Being a veela is hard, but my baby, you're a wizard, too, everything will be okay - Eomma will keep you safe."

  


  


The girl across from him is ogling him, probably not noticing how entranced and obvious she was. She's not alone. Jimin knows that if he glances up, there'll be interested faces, watching him eat his waffles, eyes clinging to him like leeches. It had been the same in the Slytherin common room and his dormitory after the Welcoming Feast the night before. Jimin pretends he's used to the stares.

Wheein is sitting next to him, but judging by the starry eyes she's giving the punk girl at the Gryffindor table, he doesn't need to worry about her. He wishes he could escape to dance. Was there even a dance studio here? Probably not. Maybe he could find an empty classroom. But that ran the risk of running into Peeves, something Jimin had enough self-awareness to know he did not have the spells to deal with. He was, after all, a Slytherin, one accustomed to using his Allure to manipulate his way out of danger.

He’s carefully maintaining space between his body and the rest of his housemates. Taehyung doesn’t seem to be having that problem, two tables over. He sat almost in Hoseok’s lap, having enthusiastic conversation with what seems like his entire House, his eyes bright and laugh deep. Best friend. Right. More like making false promises in the face of beauty, he should’ve known. Why would someone so incandescent like Taehyung want to be best friends with him? His mood shifts from morose to jealous. Fuck. The flames will come back soon.

"My name is Park Jimin! Please take care of me!"

His voice is unintentionally angelic, desperation for a distraction dipping his words in Allure as he turns and bows to the boy next to him. 

"Min Yoongi."

His voice is deep. Min Yoongi is intimidating, his ears lined with studs. His loose green tie and messy hair has a boyish charm. A resting bitch face graces his angular face. Long fingers tear banana bread into tiny chunks indifferently and dip the chunks in milk, carefully them in a small pile on his plate. Park Jimin is not used to being on this side of a stare, but Yoongi is pretty, unmistakably so. The heat tickling Jimin's insides is replaced by butterflies.

A small head peaks out from Yoongi's robes. Jimin gasps.

"Oh! Who is this? She's so pretty!"

Yoongi's eyes harden, and he gently pets the kitten and feeds her a few chunks of banana bread before hiding her from sight again. Yoongi directs his resting bitch face to him. Was the kitten a secret? Jimin's ready to stutter excuses, but Wheein is tugging on his sleeve, chattering about wanting to get to the Dungeons early. Jimin feels Yoongi's eyes linger on his back as he walks away. 

Jimin pretends he's used to the stares. 

  


  


"Sir... you don't need to worry about me, my abilities aren't strong. My anger doesn't turn me Harpie. I won't hurt anyone." Jimin confidently voices. 

Professor Nam is staring at him. Jimin prays it's not because of his Allure. 

"Jimin-ah, I'm not worried that you'll hurt anyone. I worry about what will happen if people find out. The Wizarding World isn't kind to people who are different. You don't use your beauty as a weapon, but if this comes out that won't matter. I won't be able to protect you." Professor Nam's eyes don't have a glint of attraction, just a shine of worry. Jimin relaxes. 

"That's really kind of you, but I've lived with this my entire life. My dream is here, so I'm here. Trust me, I know what I'm dealing with."

  


  


A month into the semester, Park Jimin is in danger of failing Arithmancy. Professor Kang was kind and a good teacher, despite her young age, but she was also world renown and always apparating to Seoul for Important Business™. Oddly enough, this only happened on the third Friday of each month; Taehyung insisted that she was visiting her fiancé, or maybe multiple fiancés, since she rotated between three expensive rings. Others claimed she was fighting trolls for the Korean government. Either way, Jimin was alone in learning the sequences of logograms.

He was seated in a squishy loveseat in the empty Common Room. It’s hours past curfew, and he occasionally relights the fireplace with his Fire. His Arithmancy homework is on the table in front of him. The numbers are swirling, and he feels vaguely like crying. But it’s not his fault. Well, it’s sort of his fault he’s too stupid to figure it out. But everything is fine. It’s 3 AM, he has class tomorrow, but it’s fine. He has it under control.

Except that he really, really doesn’t.

He tries to dispel his growing frustration by shooting some Fire at the fireplace, making it spark to life, lighting up the Dungeon. It’s not working. People spoke of how only love was a force strong enough to counter magic: Park Jimin knew this was not true. Sadness could push wizards to death. When Stepfather Number Three left despite Eomma’s pleading, even veela magic was nothing in the face of sadness. It was easy to slip into melancholy, and never want to leave. 

The Portrait door opens, and a dark figure enters the room. Jimin quickly clears his throat and pretends to scribble sequences on his Arithmancy homework. He expects the steps to stumble up to the dormitories, but instead they stop behind him.

“...Park Jimin?”

Jimin jerks his head up. It’s Min Yoongi. Jimin is surprised that the older boy remembers his name, remembers his face. He looks exactly the same as that first day. Casual boyish charm in his ruffled hair and loose tie. Jimin’s eyes are watery, but he figures that Yoongi will be too deep under Allure to realize they’re tearful. He probably thinks they’re “shining” or “sparkling”. That’s how it goes.

He sniffs quietly. “Yes, Yoongi-ssi?”

“Are you okay?” 

He doesn’t wait for, or seem to expect, an answer, just plops down on the loveseat next to him. After a slow once-over, eyes lingering on the younger’s water-clumped eyelashes and tightly clenched fists, he carefully shifts his robes to the side, and the pretty head pokes out. A genuine smile spreads across his face, and Yoongi looks mildly dazed. 

“Pretty baby! Come here, sweetheart! Look at you, so cute,” Jimin coos, making lowkey grabby hands. 

Yoongi opens his robes more, enough that the kitty can step out. She looks like a princess, disdainfully considering the parchment of Arithmancy. She carefully placed her paws in a lazy strut to Jimin’s lap. Jimin is blessed. 

“His name is Holly, and he’s a kneazle.”

Jimin is now carefully running his fingers through Holly’s cinnamon fur. He’s arching his back lightly. He remembers learning about kneazles in Care of Magical Creatures. Prideful and intelligent, with the “uncanny ability to detect suspicious or untrustworthy people”. It was odd that Holly was letting him near Yoongi, considering the potential threat he could pose to Yoongi.

“Aren’t kneazles dangerous?” Jimin asked.

Yoongi doesn’t seem offended by the question. He’s leaning toward the table where Jimin’s Arithmancy homework sits. “Yeah, but Holly is a sweetheart. Well, to the people he likes. He’s surprisingly fond of you, though. Don’t tell the professors about him, he’s classified as a Beast XXX by the Ministry of Magic.” 

“Taehyung would die of excitement if he knew you have a kneazle! He wants to be a Magizoologist. He’s not scared of anything, he has a gift. Even fire crabs love him! Most creatures hate me. Well except fire crabs, but that’s. Yeah. Um.” because I’m just like them. Cursed with Fire. 

Somewhere in the midst of Jimin’s mindless babble, Yoongi had finished the first two problems. He moved on to writing a few phrases on a slip of parchment. 

“Yoongi-ssi, why are you up so late?” Jimin is trying to keep his voice nonchalant, but it’s hard when Yoongi is smiling to himself, sitting so close to him. 

“Hmm? I was composing. The Frog Choir wants to sing at the Halloween Feast. I was. I stopped at the Owlery before coming here.”

Yoongi looks haggard. Jimin chooses not to ask. It’s easy to forget that he isn’t the only one running from demons. That hell was big and ponderous. Holly lightly jumps off his lap. He stops expectantly at Yoongi’s feet. Yoongi places the slip of parchment between Holly’s teeth, then opens the portrait door for him. 

“Call me hyung. I finished a few of problems, but I’m not the best of Arithmancy. I sent a note to my friend, a Gryffindor, who can help you. He’ll meet you tomorrow at the Library after breakfast, okay? Next time you need help, ask your hyung.”

Yoongi was so kind to him. It elicits an emotion out of him. A longing, a want, so thick and fervent in him. He doesn’t know how it came to be, this urge to touch someone emotionally. He tries to quell it, but it’s most definitely too late. Always was too late, always would be too late.

  


  


The creatures of the Forbidden Forest were enchanting to Taehyung. It was a long walk, past the sloping lawns, colorful flowerbeds and the Black Lake, but Jimin and Taehyung were apt at sneaking away into the dark underwood. The Hufflepuff was dying to see unicorns, but thus far they'd only seen flobberworms and deer. It didn't put him off; Taehyung loved all creatures, and Jimin loved Taehyung, so they always found themselves here. 

"And ChimChim, did you know that some wizards are treated differently, for things like, like their ‘blood purity’? That's so awful! A bunch of students were harassing Hwasa, apparently her dad is a werewolf, but, like, it doesn't matter! The Wizarding World is so amazing but so shitty at the same time! I would’ve thought magic would get rid of the dumb social issues Muggles can’t seem to get over."

Taehyung was playing music from his phone, listening to "the greatest band in the entire world, Chim!". Jimin was dancing; Taehyung was too focused on levitating a particularly fat flobberworm to notice.

"You know, this area is called the Forbidden Forest for a reason." Jimin and Taehyung tense and turn in unison, excuses ready. It's not a professor, but two students. One tall and radiating a sunshine smile, the other short and radiating a moonlit effervescence.

"Hobi-hyung, what are you doing here?" Taehyung tackles the taller boy into a hug. Jung Hoseok was one of Taehyung's favorite people at Hogwarts, constituting about 30% of Taehyung's chatter. Almost as much as memes and the Giant Squid, or memes about the Giant Squid. 

Standing behind them was Min Yoongi. Light was streaming through the trees above them, strikingly sharpening his features, contrasting with his messy hair and undone tie. He was enticing. Light itself was in love with Yoongi in that moment, and Jimin was helpless to do anything but follow its lead. Jimin knew he was staring, but so was Yoongi. The older had an excuse, though, so Jimin politely directed his attention to the fat flobberworm. He wondered if Taehyung would try to sneak it into the Hufflepuff common room again. 

Hoseok and Taehyung were in the middle of a particularly complicated handshake, one that included what looked like dabbing, rock paper scissors, and shrieking.

"What are you doing here, Yoongi-hyung?" Jimin asks, surprising himself and Yoongi with his boldness.

Yoongi tilts his head, but before he can respond, Hoseok throws an arm around Jimin's shoulders. "I didn't know you dance, Jiminie, you have to join the team!"

Taehyung looks overjoyed. "You're on the team, right, hyung? Chim will definitely be there! He's really shy, and only dances when he thinks I'm not looking, but he's really good!" 

Jimin flounders, and quickly injects, "Ah, I would love to hyung, but I'm not free, sorry, maybe another time?"

"He hasn't said when they meet yet. You dance well, you should join," Yoongi sounds amused.

Jimin feels himself blush. Hoseok and Taehyung are cooing over his red cheeks and ruffling his hair. Jimin caves to their pestering. He really does love dancing, and his Allure sometimes gets magnified by dance, he'll just need to be careful. 

Yoongi is smiling at him, small and sweet. His heart blooms. 

  


  


Jimin practically crawled out of the Dungeons after a Double Potions lesson. Taehyung was notably more chipper. He had brought a toilet seat shrunk with a Reducio charm, then cast Engorgio charm every five minutes during the period until it was roughly the size of a trunk. Jimin was jealous, since despite having spending most of the period playing with Weasleys’ Wizards Wheezes, Taehyung would most definitely score an E on the next exam. It was mildly frustrating, to see him use his intelligence for such inane things when he could easily be top of the class, but Taehyung was happy. It was more than Jimin could say, so he didn’t bring it up. 

They stopped at an abandoned bathroom next to the Great Hall. It was a girl’s bathroom, but always empty. Rumor had it there was a snake hiding behind the sinks. Jimin knew the only snake he would see would be in the mirror.

Taehyung was singing a trot song under his breath, fluffing up his hair. Jimin heard a faint noise, a scuffle, a muffled intake. 

“Hello?”

“It’s me?”

Jimin ignored him. Taehyung loved memes from 2015. He carefully walked to the last stall. Jimin had muffled his sobs enough to recognize the sounds. He tapped on the door, then lightly pushed it open. 

Inside was a young boy, all fluffy hair and big, doe eyes. He was sitting on the closed toilet, face wet, prickly after crying. He quickly looks down, shadows cast over his face. His hands were in tight fists, his shoulders trembling. His blue tie was tied messily. It reminded Jimin of Yoongi.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

The boy glared at him, as if to say Of course not, do you cry when you’re okay? Jimin softened his shoulders, let his sleeves slip down to give him sweater paws, tilted his head to the right. He knew how to make himself look vulnerable. 

“Do you want me to get someone, a professor…?”

“No! I’m fine! Just...” He stood up suddenly, and Jimin stepped back in surprise. The boy was surprisingly tall. He lifted his sleeve to roughly wipe his cheeks. 

“Is that a Big Bang bracelet?!” Taehyung shoves Jimin out of the way, clutching the boy’s wrist like a knight might a pretty maiden. And because Taehyung was shameless, he placed a little kiss to the boy’s knuckles. The doe-eyed boy was starting to flush, his eyes glued to Taehyung’s lips. 

“I’m Kim Taehyung! Holy shit, I can’t believe you have this! What’s your name?”

“....Jeon Jeongguk.” Jimin realizes who they’re talking to. The son of two of the most prominent Death Eaters. The Jeon's son. Taehyung had obviously not heard the rumors, or didn’t understand the gravity of them, even though he should, as a muggleborn.

“Nice to meet you, this is my best friend, Park Jimin. You must be a first-year, you’re so baby-faced, so we’re your hyungs then. Do you want to walk with us to the Forbidden Forest? We can eat,” Taehyung conspires, lowering his sleeve to reveal their chocolate frogs, “Maybe look for the Acromantula! Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

Jeongguk doesn’t nod, or agree in anyway, but Taehyung is unfazed. He grabs his hand, walking backwards to lead them out of the bathroom. Jeongguk is staring at Taehyung, alternating between their clutched hands and his face, with such a degree of intensity that Jimin’s surprised Taehyung doesn’t catch on fire. Taehyung looks oblivious to the attention. He expertly brings up inconsequential topics carefully, and Jeongguk slowly relaxes. Jimin follows cautiously. He’s heard about Jeongguk, and he knows better than anyone not to make assumptions, but he has to keep his best friend safe. 

They’re passing by the fire seed bush, and Jeongguk reaches out as if to touch it. Taehyung grabs his wrist before his fingers make contact.

“Woah there, careful! You’ll burn yourself, Gukkie. Would’ve thought a Ravenclaw would know that.”

Jeongguk sharply yanked his hand out of Taehyung's grasp, eyes slowly sharpening with defensiveness as he backs away. Taehyung notices. 

“Jeonggukkie, I’m not making fun of you. It’s okay to be a Ravenclaw, you know? It must be hard for you, you might feel like you disappointed your parents, but it’s who you are. VIP and Ravenclaw. They should accept you for who you are,” Taehyung’s voice is gentle, deep, comforting. Jimin is surprised. It’s easy to underestimate Taehyung. Easy to mistake optimism for stupidity, but Taehyung was incredibly perceptive, and always knew more than he let on. 

“.. you knew? You’re not scared? You’re not making fun of me?” Jeongguk weakly demands. His voice sounds like he’s trying to make it deep and threatening, but it cracks halfway through. So painfully young, so painfully vulnerable. 

Jimin’s heartstrings pull, and he colors his words with Allure, interjecting, “Jeongguk-ah, no one should be held accountable for the actions of others. No one should have to hide who they are. No one should live in fear of being made of. Whoever was making fun of you, tell hyung. I’ll take care of them for you, okay?”

“Oh. Okay. Hyung. Thank you.” Jeongguk’s voice is small. He’s staring at the Pumpkin Patch, clearly trying to hold back tears. 

Taehyung laughs, pulling Jeongguk into a hug, then dragging him to his favorite bush, where a small Bowtruckle liked to hide. Jeongguk was touched when Taehyung asked him to name him. Jeongguk flipped his robe back like a knight, pretended his wand was a sword, and tapped the Bowtruckle’s shoulders, pulling out his meme voice to announce, “I dub thee Gureum!”. Taehyung lifted Gureum into the air like Simba, both of them harmonizing the Lion King soundtrack. It looked a little like love.

  


  


“Jimin-ah, just finish this last problem, and you should be ready for the midterm!”

Kim Namjoon was a gift. He was dorky, constantly pushing up his glasses, and clumsy, constantly whacking his arms at the books in excitement. At first, Jimin had been intimidated by his intelligence. Stepfather Number Two also had a ridiculously high IQ, and liked to ridicule and patronize him. But Namjoon was nothing like that. He was kind and respectful and patient even though Jimin was slow.

“Hyuuung,” Jimin was the master of being cute. Namjoon was weak to cute. “You spend so much of your time helping me! How can I repay you?”

Jimin really was grateful, more than Namjoon knew. Without his hyung’s help, he would’ve scored a T on his last exam. Getting a job in the Ministry of Magic required immaculate grades, and the Ministry of Magic was where he was destined to be. Climbing ranks in the government, he would most certainly be able to change legislation for magical beings. He would be able to save his mother. He could be happy, secure in their futures, protected in the Wizarding World.

“Yoongi-hyung asked me to help you, Jiminie, and I owe hyung a lot. You don’t need to help me.” 

Jimin begged to differ. Namjoon was studying to become a curse-breaker, and that took more classes than Jimin could name. Namjoon had started muttering under his breath, reading two books at once, an oddly shaped “Advanced Rune Translation”, and a hardcover copy of... “Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit”?

“It is odd that Yoongi was willing to ask for a favor like this… he usually doesn’t, unless he cares very much for the person. Park Jimin, you’re one special boy. How did you melt the Slytherin prince’s heart?” Namjoon’s voice is fond.

“Yoongi-hyung isn’t like that! He’s kindhearted, and soft. He, he was willing to help me. I’m grateful,” Jimin can feel the flush spreading across his cheeks. Namjoon is oblivious to most things, but even he knew what Jimin’s little voice and pink cheeks meant. It was cute. 

“Hyung, you’re half-blood right? I think I know how to return the favor. I bet I know what you’ve been missing almost as much as your family.”

“There’s some parts of the Muggle World that are hard to leave behind, but that can’t be helped.”

“What if I told you I could give you the internet?”

Taehyung chose that moment to show up, Jeongguk in tow, yanking Jimin’s arm toward the exit, half-shouting about a new Big Bang selca. Namjoon follows in half a daze. 

“You have, you have, the internet? Here? How? I? What?” Namjoon whispers. He looks at Jimin like he’s offering him salvation.

“Namjoon-hyung, this is Taehyung. He might not look like it, but he’s really smart. He can show you the secret to wifi. Do you want to use SoundCloud again, catch up on the latest memes or KakaoTalk your muggle friends?”

Namjoon turned to Taehyung. Their grins were large, slightly maniacal, a happiness reflected on their faces.

  


  


On his way to the Great Hall, Jimin almost trips over a ball of fluff. 

“Holly! Cutie, cutie, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Where’s your pretty owner?” 

A throat clears above him. “Um.” Jimin blushes. Of course, the pretty owner was right in front of him. Yoongi is biting his lip, looking … nervous? There’s a flush coloring his cheeks pink. Maybe Yoongi had been in the Kitchen, it was hot in there. 

“So I heard you want to go to Hogsmeade?” Yoongi asks. Taehyung and Hoseok had left this morning, excitedly yelling about Zonko’s and the Three Broomsticks, their yellow scarves wrapped tight. Jimin may have been sulking ever since.

“Y-yeah?” Jimin stammers. A stutter is inevitable when Yoongi looks like that.

Instead of answering, Yoongi grabs Jimin’s hand and starts walking up the Grand Staircase, expertly avoiding the trick steps. His hand is warm and calloused. His long piano fingers wrap all the way around Jimin’s chubby sausages. Jimin’s cheeks must be bright red. He hopes his palms aren’t sweaty. 

Yoongi stops on the third floor, in front of a statue of a one-eyed humpbacked witch. He pulls out his wand, and taps the back, whispering Dissendium. A secret passageway creaks from the statue's hunched back. Holly lithely steps into the cool stone slide, turning back to look at the two Slytherins. Yoongi followed Holly, and Jimin was weak to cute things. And there were two telling him to step into the passageway, so he did. 

The humpback shut behind him, and the passage descended into darkness. Jimin squeaked, and wrapped his arms around the warmth next to him, tight against his chest, pressing his face into it. Inhaled the scent deeply. 

“Lumos!” Yoongi’s voice cracked in the middle of the incantation. The tip of his wand lit up the small space, and Jimin abruptly froze. He was hugging Min Yoongi’s arm to his chest. Arm. Chest. Min Yoongi. Oh no. 

“O-oh! Sorry, hyung!” Jimin was mortified. He was done. It’s okay, he was ready for death. He quickly stepped around Yoongi followed after Holly quickly. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea?

“Does this lead to Hogsmeade, hyung?”

“Yeah, it’ll take awhile. Why can’t you go the normal way, Jimin-ah?” Yoongi asks casually, like he didn’t just kill Jimin by saying his name so tenderly.

“Oh, I didn’t get my permission slip signed.” Couldn’t get it signed. His father, as far as the Ministry was concerned, was his legal guardian. Public opinion favored Kim Janghyun as a handsome young bachelor, closely working as an ambassador with the Magical Congress in the US. As if he hadn’t abandoned a teenage girl eight months pregnant with his child on the streets. 

“Oh,” Yoongi seems to sense his discomfort and instead remarks, “Well, hyung can always take you through here, okay?”

The sloping pathway winded upwards.

“Normally, I spend Hogsmeade weekends with Jeongguk. He’s too young to go. But today he decided to practice for the Quidditch game next weekend instead,” Jimin pouts. The older Slytherin seems uncharacteristically silent in response to this. Jimin carefully follows behind his hyung, humming a soft little tune as the pathway turns impossibly. At one point, Yoongi uses a complicated incantation to clear the plants in front of them. 

Holly slows to a halt in front of them. Yoongi whispered a Nox, and Jimin lightly gripped the end of Yoongi’s sleeve, as his hyung carefully lifted left the opening. It a cellar of some sorts, the scent of honeysuckle and brown sugar sweetening the air. 

Following Holly up the steps, the storage space gave away to a busy sweet shop. Jimin felt the memories rush through him. There were shelves upon shelves of the most delectable looking sweets conjurable, rows of hundreds of different kinds of chocolate. Honeydukes sweets! His grandmother used to let him eat one sweet after dinner. He reaches for the acid pops and sugar quills.

Jimin stops. He needs to remember who he is now. No longer someone’s cute grandson, just a poor boy alone. When he came to Hogwarts, he didn’t bring any money with him. Partially because he didn’t have any Wizarding money, only the won left by his third step-father, and partially because his mother needed it. She lived in a small cottage on the coast of Busan. Jimin knew that with a flutter of her eyelashes, she used her Allure for small gifts from Muggle man, the cheap gifts that they won’t chase her for something in return. It was dangerous: it was hard to tell who might go mad with love, who might go mad with lust.

Jimin carefully examines the sweets. He could use his Allure. Just for a little. The noona at the cashier looked susceptible. He could run his hands through his hair, lean over the counter, mutter a few flattering phrases… 

“Yah, Jimin-ah, let’s go!” Yoongi calls from the cashier. Jimin steps away from the display. It’s for the best. In the past, he’d use his Allure for food, before his mother got a job, when they were starving on the streets. It would be unethical to use it now, for something he didn’t need. 

“Where do you want to go?” Yoongi asked, holding the door open for Jimin, a pink bag in his other hand. Holly had disappeared. The air was wintery cold. Yoongi considers Jimin for a moment, then pulls his scarf off, and quickly wraps it around the younger’s neck. Jimin quickly starts protesting, but his hyung just waves him off, and hesitantly asks Jimin hold his pink gift bag for him in return. He obliges.

They stop by Zonko’s, where Jimin uses his Allure to buy a gift for Hoseok’s birthday (in his defense, the witch was charging way too high a price for Dungbombs), the Three Broomsticks, where Yoongi insists on buying Jimin butterbeer, and finally the Shrieking Shack, where Holly is waiting for them. 

It feels awfully like a date. 

(Jimin doesn’t realize until he gets to his dorm that he’s still carrying Yoongi’s pink bag from Honeydukes. Yoongi meant it for him. Inside, there are the Fizzing Whizbees, Sugar Quills and the Acid Pops.)

  


  


Eomma had taught him how to dance, their feet either bare or in the soft ballet slippers and black tap shoes bought with Stepfather Number Three’s shiny credit card. Twirling to the quiet music from the radio. He was good; all veela were simultaneously enchanted by and enchanting when it came to dance. 

"Jimin, we're doing a contemporary piece at the Yule Ball - you'll join us, right?" a voice called from the other side of the ballroom. His dance-sunbaes all doted on him, and he was grateful to them. But dancing in front of the entire school was terrifying. If he wasn't careful, he might end up with half of Hogwarts convinced they're in love with him. 

"I can't... maybe next time?" Jimin flashes his best smile, scrunching his eyes in way he knows is adorable, pitching his voice dulcet.

Hoseok responds, "You're not getting out of it that easily; Yoongi-hyung will be playing piano, you don't need to worry about him watching you. Your dance is a gift, don't you want to bless Hogwarts this Christmas?" Jeongguk pauses in his attempts to do a front flip. His doe-eyes look more shook than usual. What an innocent lamb. Jimin can feel himself flushing as Hoseok's expression turns more suggestive.

"You should ask him to go to the Yule Ball with you, Jiminie. Yoongi-hyung is shy, but he's clearly sweet on you. He always stares after you with this reverent expression, like he couldn't look away if he wanted to," Hoseok teases. 

Something strange and undefinable is happening in his chest. It felt like drowning. A reverent expression. As if Yoongi would actually be interested in him - interested in getting in his robes, sure, but nothing more. No, Jimin isn't going to be make Eomma's mistakes. Yoongi stares because of his Allure. He wasn't the only one. There were at least a dozen people at Hogwarts who were more susceptible to his magic, people Jimin took careful steps to avoid. Yeah, so Yoongi's stare didn't have that dark, sexual undertone, the one Jimin's stepfathers had when they look at his mother, but that just meant his hyung had more control over himself. Having self-control doesn't negate the fact that he was affected. Jimin wouldn't take advantage.

Yoongi had been soft to him for the past few weeks. He tried to make it look thoughtless, but Jimin knew. Jimin tried really, really hard not to melt, not to let his heart think that Yoongi was caring about him. Because he wasn't. The magic would wear off eventually. Or Yoongi would realize that Jimin was enchanting him and leave. And Jimin would be left with nothing but a broken heart.

Jimin forces himself to laugh. "That's funny of you, hyung. There's no way that's the case. Hyung doesn't like me. If it's that important to you, I'll dance at the Yule Ball. But not because of Yoongi."

  


  


Jimin knew that Yoongi thought he had a crush on him.

On October 13th, there had been three pink bags full of Honeydukes confections on his bed. When he entered the Great Hall, there had been a plate of Treacle Tart, and next to it, a Puma dance bag. His housemates had started singing happy birthday, and his friends all snuck to sit at the Slytherin table.

(The professors obviously noticed the seven rowdy hooligans at the Slytherin table, but they turned the other cheek, just that once. Everyone was weak to Park Jimin.)

The older Slytherin boy had kept quiet, but Jimin knew Yoongi was just trying to maintain his facade. He gathered all his courage, and planted a quick kiss on Yoongi’s cheek, whispering a thank you before grabbing Taehyung’s hand to race off to Charms. Jeongguk and Hoseok hooted after him like the dicks they were. Taehyung whisper-yelled about it through their entire lesson on the summoning charm, accusingly poking Jimin’s bright red cheek. 

But yeah, Yoongi fancied himself as having feelings for Park Jimin. 

It was obvious. Obvious in the way he watched him, in awe and desperation, like there was nothing he wanted more than to be next to him. It was beautiful in a way. But that was probably because Yoongi was so beautiful. Jimin constantly reminded himself that Yoongi wasn’t actually interested. That no matter how often the Slytherin’s eyes lingered on his smile, Jimin was just a thing to him. A pretty thing that he wanted. A pretty thing he wouldn’t want once he found out.

Jimin felt bad. Yoongi probably had hope after the cheek-kiss. God, Jimin didn’t even have an excuse for why he was unable to control himself. He was just weak, and love was one of the most compelling forces. Eomma was just like him, weak to his father, but Jimin wasn’t going to have hope and get broken by the truth.

A week into December, Jimin is seated in the loveseat in the Slytherin common room, working on his Potions essay when Holly slinks in, rubbing himself on Jimin’s leg. Jimin absentmindedly pet the little kneazle, but this doesn’t seem to be the desired reaction, because Holly meows quietly, placing a cinnamon paw on Jimin’s quill so it slips out of his hand.

“Okay, okay. What do you want, adorable?” Holly stands up with a flick of his tail, then haughtily walks to the portrait exit. Jimin shoves his papers away, then follows, as they make their way up the swiveling staircase to the Fifth floor. They enter what looks like a music classroom.

The room is empty, save for a boy sitting in front of the piano, his back to the entrance. His hair is glinting in the candlelight, watching the night sky. As if the moon was the conductor that had just given him the cue, he raises his hands to the keys. Begins to play. The song starts slow, chords with quiet notes, then builds into a light crescendo. The breathtaking sound is clean but expressive, a tranquil ballad that was filled with soft feeling.

The song must have been from memory, since there’s no sheet music in front of him. He played likes his hands were longing for the keys. Jimin wanted to climb into the song, live in the gap before the final chorus, in that hopeful moment.

“H-hyung, that was beautiful,” His voice cracks on the last word, ”I’m sorry for barging in, I just thought, I don’t know, this must have been a really personal song for you, I’ll leave.”

“Jimin-ah, stay. Hyung wants you to be here.” Yoongi gestures for Jimin to sit next to him on the bench. He does, carefully, still scared he’s intruding, and so conscious of the mere inches between their thighs. Holly was gone.

“I wrote this song with someone in mind,” Yoongi’s deep voice is a little unstable. Jimin’s entire existence is unstable because of Min Yoongi.

Yoongi looks so lovely, a high flush and bright eyes. He quietly says, “I wrote it for someone, Jimin, because I care a lot for them. Their existence is inspiring and I wanted to honor that. I wanted to honor that this Christmas, at the Yule Ball, if they’ll let me.”

Jimin is staring at the white keys in front of him, suddenly scared that he’s the someone. Terrified that he’s not that someone. He’s not sure which possibility hurt more. He doesn’t think he can handle the answer. Park Jimin takes a deep breath, then does what he does best: run away like the coward he always would be. 

  


  


Taehyung was shrieking with laughter as he stumbled in Hwasa's bright pink stilettos, Jeongguk and Hoseok dancing girl group choreography. The Yule Ball was in full swing.

The Great Hall was a shimmering silver. The ceiling resembled the night sky, twinkling with thousands of bright stars. Snowflakes were charmed to fall from nowhere, yet melt in no one’s hair. The glistening ice statues lined the walls. But despite the wintery decor, the young witches and wizards brought an undeniable warmth, one that made the Great Hall seem alive. Enchanted mistletoe hung above the refreshments. An impossibly tall Christmas tree was carefully propped up, the home to thousands of small golden fairies. 

Their contemporary centerpiece had been beautifully executed. The school had screamed at the end of the performance. Yoongi had lazily waved a hand at the hoots and hollers for his piano accompaniment. Someone gave him a bouquet of roses charmed to flirt with the holder. Jimin had laughed and smiled too much; the number of eyes following him had doubled. A girl from his potion class gave him chocolate he was pretty sure was spiked with Amortentia. 

Jimin was sitting at a table in the darkness, hidden from the Ravenclaw upperclassman who had been trying to seduce him all night. He was watching Yoongi dance with the handsome Gryffindor head boy. Seokjin was smiling, and Yoongi's hands had found their way to his broad shoulders. Jimin idly wondered if that was Yoongi's type: tall, strong and sweet. God. Yoongi probably didn't even like short, sensitive and awkward. Who would, without the push of magic? 

They hadn’t talked since that night in the music classroom, Jimin carefully avoiding him. Yoongi didn’t seem to care. Jimin was right, that Yoongi was just under his spell, a spell that a little distance had snapped him out of. Jimin held his breath, and tried really hard not to cry. Tried not to hate his sensitivity. Hate his Allure. Hate his veela-nature. It's funny, how when you hate yourself for one thing, hating yourself for basically everything else seems to follow like clockwork.

The overfilling hurt, spills out of his eyes, lightly down his cheeks, tear tracks probably ruining the makeup Wheein had so painstakingly applied for his dance performance. God, he fucked up everything, didn't he?

A light touch on his shoulder startled Jimin so hard he whipped out his wand. It was Taehyung. He had taken off the stilettos, now barefoot. He pulls Jimin into his lap, wraps his impossibly long appendages around him, whispers,"Chim, what's wrong?"

"Tae... I can't.... Taetae,"

"Aw Chim, it's alright, I'm here, tell me what's wrong."

Jimin sobs harder in response. Tries to take a deep breathe. Ends up just sobbing more. Cries for a few minutes, with his best friend cooing kind reassurances in his ear. Two Ravenclaws are making out a few feet from them. 

"I think," Jimin hiccups, hard, the top of his head bonking on Taehyung's head. "I fucked up but I don't think I fucked up because there isn't anything else I can do but I have this secret burning up inside me - god literally, so literally - and I don't know what to do about it because it's so bad, Tae, and just Yoongi. Just. Yoongi."

Taehyung lightly pulls Jimin to his feet. His best friend carefully directs him towards the kitchens. Jimin stumbles, unsteady and emotional. Fuck Houses. Jimin can sleep with Taehyung tonight. 

“Did you know, Tae, that he wrote it for someone he cares a lot for. He thinks their existence is inspiring and he wants to honor that this Christmas, at the Yule Ball. If they’ll let him.”

"Chim, why don't you start from the beginning? What's wrong?'

Jimin just laughs. And laughs. Falls asleep while laughing. 

  


  


> VEELA MAGIC: HOW AMBASSADOR KIM JANGHYUN WAS TEMPTED BY AND ESCAPED A WICKED EVIL
> 
> The tragic story of how beloved Kim Janghyun, one of Korea’s most eligible bachelors, was tempted by veela Park Yeojin, and escaped from a horrific relationship of wedlock and emotional manipulation (see Park Jimin, page 3).
> 
> “Veela are semi-human magical beings; beautiful women that are always, and under any circumstances, physically perfect, graceful and flawless, without anything that would make them look unattractive or distract from their presence. They are perfectly aware how to increase their appeal by apparel, action or choice of words, but even these are simply details to enhance their natural appeal.. When angry, Veela take on a less pleasant appearance; their faces elongate into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long scaly wings burst from their shoulders… Veela have been known to marry wizards... Children of these unions are half-Veela, and they will inherit magical ability from their fathers and beauty and charm from their mothers.”
> 
> Kim Janghyun, 44, is a celebrated ambassador, instrumental in securing many trade agreements with the American Magic Congress. Some believe him to be an undeniable candidate for Prime Minister in next year’s election. His youth, prowess and wealth make him one of the most eligible bachelors in Korea, both in the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds. A five-time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile award, thousands of witches and wizards have are outraged by recent news of his tragedy. 
> 
> Park Yeojin, 35, hails from a long ancestry of veela of Busan. She is the last surviving full Veela in her lineage, although her current whereabouts are unknown. According to eyewitnesses, her beauty is unparalleled, her eyes always full of lecherous promises. She is speculated to be using her magic to live in the Muggle World. Many prominent Muggle men have fallen trap to her promiscuity.
> 
> Numerous accounts, from shopkeepers, house servants, to Janghyun-ssi’s family and friends have stepped forward to account on the salacious relationship between Park Yeojin and Kim Janghyun. Park, at age 18, is said to have snuck Kim Janghyun’s mansion the night of his 26th Birthday Gala. Her intentions were to seduce the young Kim Janghyun for financial gain. “He seemed,” testifies one witch who attended the event, who wishes to remain anonymous, “like he couldn’t take his eyes of her. Like she was the most beautiful thing in the world, and he needed her.” Veela experts claim that this is a classic use of Allure (see page 2). Their “romance” lasted months, before Kim Janghyun snapped out of her spell, realized the true nature of Park Yeojin, weeks before Yeojin was due to go into labor… their illegitimate son, Park Jimin, currently attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a half-veela Slytherin on the dance team, who…”

“I heard he spent the night in the Hufflepuff dormitory - I wonder, how many people did he charm into fucking him?”

“What a slut… I knew there was something compelling about him. He probably uses it on the professors to get good grades.”

“And his dancing, of course it’s not talent! It’s just Allure, he’s tricking all of us. God, not as much as his mother though. Did you hear about that whore, how she slept with Janghyun-oppa for fame and fortune?”

Park Jimin’s world falls to shit that Monday. He’s sitting at the Slytherin table, desperately pretending that everything is normal. The eyes on him are infinitely times more malicious and numerous. Years of being the target of eyes clouded with desire was nothing in comparison to the contempt the school directed at him. He forces himself to continue complaining to Wheein about their Herbology professor, his voice getting higher pitched the louder the whispers get. Wheein is looking at him like she doesn’t know what to do. 

Perhaps the worst part of the article was that Eomma would be so sad, but she wouldn’t blame that awful man. She’d spent her life surrounded by awful, awful men, all vying for her attention in the worst possible ways. Sometimes Jimin wishes it was insecurity that made Eomma actively resist them. But it was her kindness, her love, that was at fault. On anyone else, her kindness would be a beautiful treasure, but because of her nature and the world they were banished in, it was nothing but a terrible curse. She was probably crying in her little cottage in Busan, crying that her beloved Janghyun-oppa was hurt by her actions. 

“Jimin-ah? Are you ready for Divination?” Seokjin, the Head Boy, is standing behind him. He’s looks as sharp as he does when he picks up Namjoon after tutoring, as sharp as he does as he sings the solo in the Frog Choir. He looks like he’s trying to act normal, but there’s something significantly different in his aura.

“Hyung?” Jimin thought Seokjin was fond of him, but he’s avoiding his eyes. He duly follows him out of the Great Hall. Jimin felt sick. 

“It’s. Professor Nam asked me to walk you to class from now on. Just because of that, thing that came out today, and…” He waits for Jimin to finish the sentence for him. He doesn’t need to. His heels click clack on the floor. The people who walk past stare, mostly angrily, a few pityingly. Jimin is grateful for Seokjin’s presence. Everyone knew not to fuck with him.

At the foot of the North Tower, he turns to him. “Jimin, I won’t pretend I know the whole story, but if you ever need help, ask hyung, okay? Or ask your Yoongi-hyung. We’ll take care of you.” He pats his arm comfortingly, leaving him to climb up the ladder alone.

There aren’t any friendly faces. Normally Jimin enjoys Divination, the lightheartedness with which the students treated the class. But today, the room was ice cold. Unfriendly. Unwelcoming. Harsh. To heighten tensions further, it’s a Slytherin-Gryffindor class. Worse still, the only empty seats were on the “Gryffindor” side of the room. The relief is overwhelming when sees Hwasa, sitting alone. They had danced together at the Yule Ball. And, hadn’t Taehyung said her father was a werewolf?

The lesson runs smoothly. Hwasa draws satirical cats on her horoscope chart. Jimin is able to relax. Until someone tosses a copy of the Daily Prophet onto his desk.

The cover is a blown up picture of his mother. She’s standing alone, in an elegant dress. It delicately shimmers down her body, an evening gown that shows the slightest of baby bumps. Her straight hair follows the curve of her breasts, and she’s looking straight at the camera, smiling.

The two Gryffindor boys had drawn penises around her, with filthy phrases written like cartoon speech bubbles. Hwasa punches one of them in the face. Jimin feels like he’s hyperventilating, and as stumbles away from the North Tower, his palms lighting the ladder on fire.

  


  


(“But Eomma, why are you so kind to him, when Stepfather Two makes fun of you all the time?”

“Jimin-ah, everyone has had a hard life. Everyone deserves kindness. Eomma well tell you why he is like this. He’s intelligent, right? A muggle man, clever enough to learn of and make business with wizards. But he was too caught up in his business to realize that his wife was conspiring against him. To blind to realize until she gave birth to a baby who looked just like his biggest client. He’s scared Jimin-ah, just like us, and fear shouldn’t be punished.”)

Taehyung and Jeongguk had come looking for Jimin in the abandoned girl’s bathroom next to the Great Hall. The last stall was unlocked, and they tackled him into a hug. Jimin wasn’t crying. He looked lifeless.

Jeongguk is talking into his hair. “Jiminie-hyung, you could’ve told us, we wouldn’t have judged, we would have been there for you, Taehyungie-hyung and I feel bad…”

Taehyung’s voice is a few decibels from a shout, “I’M SO AWFUL HOW COULD I NOT NOTICE MY BEST FRIEND IN THE ENTIRE WORLD WHO I LOVE MORE THAN THE ENTIRE WORLD WAS CARRYING THIS BURDEN THIS WHOLE TIME I SHOULD’VE BEEN BETTER I’M SORRY CHIM - !” 

“You guys aren’t scared? The article was right, we have magic that makes people feel things around us. I can set you on fire, I can make you fall in love with me, I can make you crazy with lust,” Jimin’s voice is raspy and low.

“Hyung, don’t be dumb. We’ve been friends for years. Friends, not lovers.” Jimin is tempted to make fun of the fact that Jeongguk still uses the word “lover”, as though he’s a blushing damsel in one of those sixteenth century romance novels Taehyung likes to read. “A magical charade all this time, that’s funny.”

“...butYoongihyunghas…” 

“Park. Jimin.” Taehyung has wrenched Jimin’s small hands off of his face, making direct eye contact. “You can’t possibly believe that, after all this time. Min Yoongi is in love with you. The entire school can see that. Even if it was veela mojo that caught his attention at first, it was Park Jimin, the human, who made him stay.” 

Jeongguk gasps next to him. Jimin actively fights the urge to roll his eyes at their theatrics. “Jimin. Is this reason you’ve been acting like you aren’t in love with my, with hyung? He wrote a song for you, but couldn’t even tell you that himself. He buys sweets for you, but doesn’t tell you they’re from him. He brews you a Pepperup potion when you were sick, and leaves it in the dorm “cupboard”. Jimin, if that’s fake-love to you, what’s love?”

Jimin kind of feels himself being swayed by their arguments, against his will. It doesn’t really matter though, since even if it’s true, it’s too late. But maybe, just this once, he can try. 

  


  


Namjoon tells him he figured it out a month after he met Jimin. 

“Your hair is most definitely black because of a potion - only magic can reach that shade. It’s naturally blonde, right? Veela have platinum hair. I think I saw a little bit of light roots once. Another thing, Park Jimin, you are so cute. You act like your cuteness is a fact, which it is, but are also insecure about it. It makes sense that you think it’s not real. You’ve only talked about female members of your family, a mother and a grandmother. I think your dance was the most obvious clue though. I’m certain your skill is a result of your hard work, not your nature, but when you do faster turns, there’s a wisp of smoke that trails behind you like a ribbon. Oh, and you smell smoky all the time too.”

Jimin is shocked. Partly because how the fuck was Namjoon so smart? And partly because, “But hyung, you didn’t tell anyone? You didn’t even ask me about it!” 

Namjoon looks up from his book. How he walks, reads, and talks at the same time is a mystery. “Jiminie, of course I wouldn’t. You looked like you more comfortable keeping it a secret. I don’t think it’s something you should be ashamed of, but I respect your decisions. Mostly. One of the few decisions I don’t respect is walking toward us, so I’m going to dash, see you tomorrow for Arithmancy.” Namjoon trips in his haste to escape. 

Park Jimin sees Min Yoongi, his ruffled boy, a cinnamon kneazle on his heels. Min Yoongi sees Park Jimin, his dumb boy, standing frozen in the middle of the sunlit corridor. Nearly Headless Nick passes them with wide, interested eyes. He’s probably going to eavesdrop, and the entire school will most definitely hear about this encounter. 

Jimin really wants to make like Namjoon, but he tries to be a little brave. Just this once. For Yoongi. 

“Jimin-ah.” It’s an exhalation, but his name sounds like a sharp intake of fresh air after drowning. It’s been too long. His heart aches.

“Yoongi-hyung. Hey. Um.” Jimin can see that Yoongi is about to sacrifice something for him, say something, so he hastens to keep talking. “I have something to show you, come on.” 

Yoongi looks mildly bewildered, and still a little dazed, as they stumble into an empty classroom, the door slamming shut behind them.

Jimin is pulling out his wand, and whispering an incantation under his breath. A soft tune, one all too familiar for Yoongi starts playing. His song for Jimin.

Jimin moves to the center of the room. And dances. He starts slow, movements with quiet steps, then builds into a light crescendo. The breathtaking choreography is clean but expressive, a tranquil modernity that was filled with soft feeling. 

It’s somewhere between ballet and contemporary, with Fouette turns and arabesques. His balance is loose and quick, fluidly moving one through the steps like a story. He dances with his eyes closed. There’s a flash of...fire? Smoke? Something, that somehow only adds to the performance. Jimin dances like smoke of a candle.

His breath is short, from exertion and nerves, when he spins to a final stop. 

“I choreographed it for someone, Yoongi-hyung, because I care a lot for them. Their existence is inspiring and I wanted to honor that. I wanted to honor them now, and for the rest of their life, if they’ll let me.”

Yoongi is staring at the boy he loves. 

“I know it might be too late, and that, you probably don’t want to be with a half-breed, especially one that tricks people, manipulates people like a snake. But I didn’t say it before, so I’m saying it now. I’m not worth it, but if you decide to. I want.” Jimin fumbles, the words bursting like an anxious splatter of paint.

Yoongi is taking in a shuddering breath. “Jimin. Jeongguk told me that you think that what I feel for you isn’t real. But,” Jimin opens his mouth to interject, but his hyung holds up a pretty finger to stop him, “that’s clearly not true. Hyung thought you were the most beautiful boy in the world from the first moment. Jimin-ah, I love you. Didn’t you know? Love is the most powerful magic on Earth. Love is stronger than any magic you may have. Love is worth the world, Park Jimin, and so are you.”

Yoongi is staring into his eyes, dazed and pretty like always. Jimin falls forward, fingers curling in the fabric of Yoongi’s shirt, to kiss the boy he loves, the boy who loves him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yoongi’s perspective!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the structure kind of mirrors Jimin’s story idk
> 
> i tried to focus on different hp and character elements, and this is less angsty lmao

  


  


Summer had been a sweet little dream, and while Yoongi was sad it was over, he was happy to be back at Hogwarts. 

A youthful joy fills the Great Hall as friends reunite with tales of wild summer adventures, and Yoongi basks in the magic overflowing in the air. Hogwarts students are definitely not innocent, the wounds from their parent’s war still fresh, but there’s a purity that encapsulates everyone during the Welcoming Feast. A hopefulness for the upcoming term.

The Slytherin table is not the rowdiest - no, that honor will always go to Gryffindor, where screaming witches gather to watch Kim Seokjin inhale eight plates of fried chicken - but there’s an unwavering acceptance that he can’t help but love. The house that stood on the wrong side of the war. No, to him, Slytherin was the house that stood alongside friends. Theirs was a new story, one with blood purity as a thing of the past, creating a future where ambition and cunning was not synonymous to selfishness and bigotry. 

The hostility directed towards the house encompassed in emerald was once alienating, most especially during reconstruction, but time had eased hatred to a wary truce. Mostly. Some attempted to shackle Hogwarts to the past, but they were the minority. The new generation of young witches and wizards knew better. 

Hoseok is shining at the Hufflepuff table. The Quidditch team surrounds him like ducklings, listening avidly to his explanation of new strategy. There’s a bunch of mini-wizard figurines enchanted to fly on their brooms in different formations in front of them to demonstrate the new techniques. The Hufflepuff team used to have a reputation for being the shittiest players, but that was before Jung Hoseok became captain. Off-field, he’s the castle’s sunshine boy. On-field, he’s the scarily competent leader. The sharpness with which he leads won his Quidditch team the Cup last year.

Namjoon is seated next to Seokjin, seeming unaware of the crowd of fangirls trying to catch their attention. Unsurprisingly, there’s two books open in front of Namjoon - “A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration” and “Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland” - capturing his attention. Occasionally, one of his gangly elbows knocks a goblet of pumpkin juice over, and every time, Seokjin catches it with a levitating spell before it spills on his robes.

The first years were waiting in a clumpy line, trembling in nervousness and anticipation like Yoongi had two years ago, shivering in their new robes, since the Great Squid had gotten excited and splashed a few in greeting. Holly is sleeping under the table, the sound of his snores covered by chatter. 

When the Sorting Hat bursts into song, Yoongi automatically tunes it out. He knows it’s nitpicky and mildly rude of him, but it’s always terribly off key, following no consistent time signature with random accidentals. The only redeeming quality is the rhymes. It’s poor musicianship, and in Hoseok’s words, Yoongi “only listens to real music”.

He watches as the small, wide-eyed students stumble up to the stool and then their respective houses, received with loud cheers. Hoseok tackles a charming boy with a boxy smile in a bear hug when he joins Hufflepuff. 

“Park Jimin!”

The whole school seems to inhale a sharp breath of air at the sight of Park Jimin. There’s something ethereal about him. The way the candlelight casts shadows on his face, the way his dark hair falls effortlessly into his face, the way a rosy pink tinges his cheeks; he’s art. It’s so easy. His beauty looks easy, even easier to see and easier still to want. He’s a little thing, with chubby fingers peeking out from the sleeves of his robe. It makes Yoongi protective. He looks a million miles away as he walks up to the stool. There is nothing Yoongi wants to do more than make him smile. See his pretty eyes alit with happiness. 

He’s sorted into Slytherin. He bashfully takes a seat, pupils trained on the table. Even trying to make himself small, he looks bigger than life.

Yoongi knows he’ll spend the rest of his days haunted by Park Jimin.

  


  


Yoongi remembers the day he left the orphanage. The war had stolen the parents of many children, and he was one of the many. This wasn’t to say his childhood was sad; no, quite the contrary, it was one brimming with happiness. The world was kind to him. 

The Ministry of Magic was generous in providing funding for opening Wizarding orphanages in hopes of avoiding the rise of another Dark Lord. The manor of one of the Death Eaters who died fighting was enchanted to be suitable for young witches and wizards to grow up in: a spacious entry hall, dining room, plenty of bedrooms, and an entire meadow. The architecture was beautiful, with ornate portraits and furnishings kept clean by house elves, who cooked only the most delicious foods. Yoongi and his roommate, Seokjin, loved to explore the large grounds, chasing dragonflies and riding on toy broomsticks. One of the volunteers taught him piano once a week. He felt at home. 

Yoongi is eight years old when his godfather comes to pick him up. 

A man is sitting opposite to Yongsun, the head of the orphanage, and stands up when Yoongi tentatively enters the room.

“Yoongi,” the wizard exhales. He’s gaunt, and frail looking, as though the slightest wind would carry him away. “You look just like your father.”

He’s beaming. There are smile lines around his eyes. 

“Yoongi-ah, this is Jeon Sihyuk-ssi. He is here to talk to you about something. ” Yongsun says, beckoning Yoongi into the room. 

“Hello, Yoongi. You wouldn’t remember me, but my wife and I, we used to play with you all the time when you were a baby. We were supposed to have custody of you, if your parents ever died...” The man looks pained now. The life slowly seeps out of him, and his skin pale skin stands out even more.

“Why are you here now?” Yoongi asks. He feels a little braver than usual with Yongsun’s arm wrapped comfortingly around his shoulders. 

“I spent the last five years serving my sentence in Azkaban. My wife is on house arrest, but since I’m free now, we can take custody of you. You’ll have a brother, four years younger than you. We’re sorry we couldn’t be here for you before, but can we take care of you now?”

Yoongi considers the man before him. There was one thing all the orphans wanted to know. Whenever veterans came, they brought with them the stories of heroes, their parents, how courageously they fought against the Death Eaters. One of the veterans spent an entire hour describing the valor of Seokjin’s mother, how she saved him from Nagini. Yoongi never heard stories like this, but he so desperately wants to. 

“Can, can you tell me about my parents?” 

“Oh, Yoongi, there is nothing I would like to do more.”

He talks about how Yoongi’s father and him were best friends, inseparable, the two champion beaters of the Slytherin Quidditch Team who won their team the Cup. He talks about how they once served detention together in the Forbidden Forest, where they stumbled across a werewolf they befriended. Sihyuk talks about how Yoongi’s parents met and went to dates at Hogsmeade together, through a secret tunnel at Hogwarts. But he also talks about the war. Being young and afraid. Paying for the mistakes of their ancestors. How there wasn’t a choice, not for people like them, who would loose their families if they didn’t join the wrong side. That they tried to be heroes, too, except lost their way along the way. Yoongi thinks that Jeon Sihyuk is one of the most sincere wizards in the world. He’s right.

“Yongsun-noona. Can I leave today?”

  


  


Park Jimin decides to plop his cute butt down right next to Yoongi, and he smells like fucking roses.

It’s the night after the Welcoming Feast, and the energy in thee Great Hall is greatly diminished, since so many of the students - and professors - are nursing hangovers. Both Seokjin and Namjoon are probably still passed out in Gryffindor Common Room. 

Jimin looks painfully self-conscious, gazing steadfastly on the blueberry syrup dripping down his waffles. Yoongi feels inexplicably guilty and does the same. He wants to introduce himself, but that would probably make the younger more uncomfortable than he already is. Yoongi is just another one of the adoring faces in the crowd, after all. 

"My name is Park Jimin! Please take care of me!"

Fuck. 

"Min Yoongi." It’s astonishing that he was able to get words out at all, especially something this coherent, when Jimin is bowing deeply at him, his fluffy hair flopping into his eyes. As Jimin leans closer, the scent of jasmines wafts over him. Just like roses, the aroma reminds him so strongly of the garden at the Jeon Manor. The nostalgia washes over him as he’s reminded of picking flowers with Jeongguk. He remembers running into the West Wing, tracking dirt through the carpet in their excitement. He remembers Jeongguk’s mother beaming when they hand her a crumpled bouquet. He remembers her weaving them colorful flower crowns to show off to the house elves.

Jimin is looking oddly bright, or distressed perhaps, gawking. Yoongi tries not to reciprocate, instead continuing to prepare Holly’s breakfast. Jimin’s lips look especially red and Yoongi hates himself for noticing. 

Holly chooses this moment to be a nosy shit, and sticks his head out in curiousity. Jimin releases a tiny noise, and Yoongi finds himself irrationally angry at Holly for scaring Jimin. 

"Oh! Who is this? She's so pretty!"

Holly is still staring at Jimin with interestedly. As a kneazle, he’s quite sensitive to Yoongi’s magic, which most definitely spiked at the sight of Jimin. Yoongi scratches Holly’s ears, trying to get him to hide under his robes again. Yoongi turns to Jimin, ready to apologize, but he chickens out and looks at his plate again. Holly finally stops resisting and hides away once more. He can tell that his kneazle has taken a liking to Jimin, though, just like the rest of the world. 

“Would you like to pet him?” When Yoongi finally works up the nerve to ask, he looks up and sees Jimin being pulled out of the Great Hall by a Slytherin girl. His heart twangs mildly in hurt and embarrassment. Oh. Okay.

  


  


It’s two weeks into the semester, and Jeon Jeongguk is firmly avoiding him. 

At Platform 9 and ¾, Jeongguk had raced off immediately. Yoongi had been a little hurt, but he figured Jeongguk was eager to find friends of his own. Which sounded fake, since he has the social intelligence of a coconut, and Yoongi thinks hanging out with a fifth-year was cool, but whatever. After the Welcoming Feast, when Yoongi attempted to approach him to congratulate his Sorting, the younger had mysteriously disappeared into a crowd of Hufflepuffs. He’s never in the hallways, the classrooms, or even the Great Hall at the same time as him. It’s with such a high amount of accuracy, Yoongi almost thinks Jeongguk has a map that shows where everyone in Hogwarts is or something.

Suffice to say, it’s becoming a problem, because Jeongguk has been skipping meals, and Yoongi is not about to let his baby brother starve. So, he does what any resourceful Slytherin would do; he comes up with a foolproof plan, one of the greatest cunning and innovation.

He plants his ass right outside of Ravenclaw Tower. A passing Ravenclaw asks if he needs her to go grab someone from inside, but he declines. He could, if he wanted to, march inside himself (that’s a lie - he doesn’t know the answer to any of the riddles. But Yoongi knows Kim Namjoon, so he does know the answer, by extension). No, Yoongi was making a statement. Jeon Somin, his godmother and the kindest angel, had imparted two pieces of wisdom upon her sons: first, how to cook and appreciate quality lamb skewers, and second, how to call out bullshit. Right now, Jeongguk reeked of bullshit and Yoongi is having none of it. 

When Jeongguk steps out of his Common Room, arms full of books, Yoongi casts a levitation charm on him and shoves him into the nearest nook. 

“Guk-ah. That’s enough. Why are you avoiding your hyung like this?”

“H-hyung, not right now, I need to get to class…” The kid is avoiding looking at him, and trying to pass him. 

Yoongi places a hand on his shoulder suddenly, and Jeongguk startles. His face turns fully to Yoongi for the first time, and suddenly the air feels hot.

There are dark bags engraved in his face. This isn’t new, since Jeongguk likes to stay up until sunrise playing Overwatch, but there’s also a heaviness. He looks tired, but not the “haha I pulled an all-nighter catching Pokemon” tired, but the bone-deep exhaustion when life is just suffocating. Most concerning is that peeking above the collar of his robes is… is a bruise?

“Yah, Jeon Jeongguk, what’s this, huh? Has someone been hurting you? Tell hyung who he needs to fuck up,” Yoongi growls, aggressively pulling the collar of his brother’s robes, revealing more discolored skin. Jeongguk flinches, and Yoongi’s heartstrings pull in response. Jeongguk could be shy or quiet, but he was never one to back down. This was not okay.

“Yoongi-hyung, really, it’s nothing. Please move, someone’s going to see you with me,” he’s whispering, looking over his shoulder nervously. 

“So what if someone sees? Oh… is this an anxiety thing?” Yoongi belatedly softens his voice. Wow, maybe Yoongi has the social intelligence of a coconut, too.

“Oh my god, no, no, oh my god. If they see you with me, they might. Um.” 

“Jeon Jeongguk.”

Yoongi doesn’t say anything else. He knows he doesn’t need to. He just needs to wait it out, because this kid can’t handle awkward silence. He’s right. 

“Ugh. If they see you talking to me, they’ll think we’re friends. Or worse, they’ll figure out we’re brothers. Then they’ll come after you too.”

“Bullshit! Bullshit. I’m going to find out who’s doing this to you, whether you tell me or not,” Yoongi tries to make his tone soothing, but it’s mostly strangled and pissy. “You can rely on hyung to take care of things for you. Whatever they’re saying about the Jeons, it’s wrong, okay? We’re not like that.” 

“I’ll make you a deal: I’ll tell you, um, their names, but in return you won’t tell anyone that we’re brothers. Please, please hyung, I can’t let them come after you too…” Yoongi feels a fiery anger at the way the world would be so cruel as to make his dongsaeng think he needs to protect him. But if this is what it takes to makes his baby brother more comfortable, Yoongi will.

  


  


It’s the first game of the Quidditch season, Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor, and Seokjin is pointedly scoffing at him from the Gryffindor stands across the pitch for cheering on Ravenclaw. Namjoon is trying to fix his broken Omnioculars, fiddling with the knobs petulantly. Hoseok is right next to them, paying attention to nothing but the players, using a Quick-Quotes Quill to take notes on the Chaser formations, the beater’s style and the keeper’s hoop bias. 

In the blue stands, Yoongi tries not to feel like he’s third wheeling as Jimin whispers to Taehyung.

He looks as effortlessly breathtaking as always, smiling candidly as he giggles at Taehyung’s banner. In sparkly blue letters, it reads, “KISS HIS ASS, BABY. I GOT YO FLOWER” with a cute drawing of a emoji. Yoongi is pureblood as fuck, but his brother loves muggle culture, so even he can recognize memes. When Jeongguk exited the locker rooms with the rest of his team, he had blushed at the sight of it. The kid probably doesn’t realize it, but Taehyung just ingeniously laid claim to him in front of the whole school.

Jimin is still leaning onto Taehyung’s shoulders as he laughs with his entire body. Jealousy is so ugly, and Jimin is so beautiful, so Yoongi squishes down any pissy feelings he has at the way Jimin lingers around his best friend’s warmth. Park Jimin is distracting, but it’s gotten oddly easier to be around him. His beauty is as prominent as ever, but Yoongi finds himself undazed enough to notice him. Him, as in something more than the slope of his collarbones or the softness of his cheeks. But there’s plenty of time in the day, and Yoongi’s thoughts always appreciate his collarbones and cheeks as well.

“Jimin-ah, I don’t want the rest of my Chocolate frogs, can you eat them for me?” Okay, this isn’t the strict truth. In actuality, Yoongi finds Chocolate frogs disgusting, but lately he’s been buying lots and lots, and he just so happens to check the Famous Witches and Wizards card. And the one he hands Jimin just so happens to be of the one with Taeyang, his dancing idol that he’s been desperately searching for.

“Hyung, thank you so much! I’ll eat it later, for sure!” 

“Don’t worry about it, just be careful, Holly might steal it.”

“Is he here right now?”

“He doesn’t quite like large crowds, so no. Yah, Jiminie are you only friends with me for my kneazle?”

“Yoongi! How dare you! I’m friends with you for the Chocolate frogs, obviously!”

Taehyung, still holding the large banner, turns to Jiminie, “Is Chocolate frogs a euphemism for fucking?” 

Jimin releases a strangled noise, and Yoongi pretends not to have heard Taehyung’s question. Jimin is hurriedly explaining that no, no, no, Chocolate Frogs is the name of a candy in the Wizarding World. Taehyung doesn’t stop lifting his eyebrows in a suggestive and skeptical way, and Jimin eventually gives up. 

“Hey,Yoongi-hyung, Taehyung and I are here for Jeonggukkie, why aren’t you cheering on Gryffindor with Namjoon-hyung and Seokjin-hyung?” he lilts in his pretty voice. The scent of gardenias is surrounding him.

He’s is shivering. Yoongi takes out his wand to cast a heating charm on his scarf, then wraps it around the younger’s neck. Predictably, he protests, and Yoongi instinctively lifts a finger to shush him. His fingers brushes Jimin’s lips, feather light. Jimin’s cheeks are steadily burning brighter, and eyes are avoiding his, probably in embarrassment, locked lower, on Yoongi’s… lips?

The the volume of the crowd suddenly skyrockets, and Yoongi looks up just in time to see the Ravenclaw seeker, Jeongguk, tighten his fingers around the small, fluttering snitch and lift it triumphantly into the air. Yoongi feels a burst of pride. That’s Jeon Jeongguk.

  


  


The fury Yoongi feels towards the two students who hurt his brother has sizzled into a cold, merciless hatred. After a few weeks of studying them, he’s put together a plan. Vengeance was due as fuck for these cuntfaces. 

Two siblings, Gryffindors. A boy, Choi Seungho, and a girl, Choi Kyunghwa. Both are in the year above Yoongi, but they’re not smart. Or talented. Or exceptional in any way, really. Their mother is a prominent Auror, but from what Yoongi can tell about their abysmal abilities, the two are probably disappointments, failures trying to prove themselves.

Jeongguk isn’t the only one they wanted to make suffer. Kim Jisoo’s mother was a Death Eater as well, making her a victim, alongside quite a few of the younger Slytherins. Ahn Hyejin used to be a frequent target because of her werewolf father, before someone made them back off. But no, it’s not enough to just make them back off, not this time.

That someone would dare mess with not only his baby brother, but some of innocent housemates is worthy of death. But there was something worse: getting expelled.

There were few rules at Hogwarts that were worthy of such a punishment, all centered around one thing. If a student does something to put the lives of others in harms way, it was certain cause for expulsion. Framing the fuckers for planning to hurt others without harming any other students was difficult, but Yoongi was sharp and his fury was indomitable. Choi Seungho and Kyunghwa were not getting away with this. 

The Lumos brightening the tip of his wand softly illuminates the Dungeons, opening the cabinets to look for the ingredients. Ashwinder egg, Squill bulb, Murtlap tentacle, Tincture of thyme, Occamy eggshell, Powdered common rue. He whispers Evanesco! to vanish the correct quantity of each. Then, Yoongi pulls out the letter he had meticulously crafted this afternoon.

  


_My dearest brother, Choi Seungho: the last piece to this puzzle: the ingredients. With this, we will easily be able to take down the filth dirtying our school, since Lady Luck will be on our side! It’ll look like an accident. The potion will take six months to brew, so those disgusting convicts will be gone by Easter. I’m quite looking forward to it, aren’t you?_

  


The idea was not ingenious one, but this too was intentional. The two Gryffindors had a reputation for their foolishness. It was much more believable to go with a simple plan that suited their brainlessness, and Felix Felicis was quite well known. 

A tinkling snicker echoes in the room, and Yoongi jerks around. Park Jimin is leaning down to pet Holly, who was supposed to be guarding the door. Holly looks entirely unapologetic, arching into Jimin’s touch shamelessly. 

“Hyung, you should crumple up the paper, make it look more accidental. And vanish a vial, too.”

“What?”

“It’s for the Choi siblings, right?”

Yoongi gawks at Jimin.

“How did you know?”

“Who do you think got them to stop hurting Hwasa, hyung?” Jimin is cooing lovingly at Holly as the kneazle rubs his head on Jimin’s leg.

 

“That was you! The Bat-Bogey Hexes?” the shock in Yoongi’s tone is almost hilariously palpable. 

“They deserved so much more. They treated her like a _dog_." His voice is cold and harsh, but he still gently runs his fingers through Holly’s fur, his flowery scent fresh in the air.

Yoongi stares some more, before slowly crumpling up the slip of paper. He drops it down under one of the shelves, clearly visible but natural, then vanishes a glass vial. He makes a mental note. 

Park Jimin is not someone you mess with.

  


  


The Dungeons is thick with the smell of everything, from burnt moonstone to unicorn horn. Today is a practice examination; the students have to correctly identify the potions laid out for them based purely on appearance and scent. It’s an arduous task. 

“Did you finish that song you were working on, Yoongi-hyung? The one that’s been bothering you lately?”

“No, not yet. There’s some emotion in it that I can’t seem to detangle… Joon, why is your hair burnt?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Namjoon and Yoongi are partners, and any progress to their answers so far has solely been thanks to Namjoon. His dongsaeng was the only fourth-year in the O.W.L. level class, but seemed to have no trouble keeping up. His strengths were the exact opposite of Yoongi’s; while Namjoon excels in theoretical magic like Potions and Ancient Runes, Yoongi only shines in wand-based magic like Charms and Transfiguration. It’s the perfect symbiotic relationship for collaborating - mostly copying - homework. 

“Hey, you okay?” Yoongi asks, partially in concern, and partially because he feels guilty that Namjoon has such a deadweight partner. 

“Huh? Oh, hyung, just this one, I can’t figure it out…” Namjoon’s singed hair is all messy from running his fingers through it in distraction.

Thus far, Namjoon has identified the silvery vapour of the Draught of Peace, the acid green of a Shrinking Solution and the foul odor of a Girding Potion. He’s pursing his lips, glaring at a shimmery potion in the golden cauldron. 

“It’s so weird, it smells like freshly made Kal-guksu, the perfume of a clothing store and the parchment of a new book, and the appearance is so ambiguous.” Namjoon is rolling his shoulders back, agitated as the end of the period looms closer. 

“Here, lemme take a look.” 

When Yoongi leans in, he’s hit by such lovely scents, just nothing like what Namjoon described. 

“It smells a little like Jimin-ah. I think. There’s a strong and sweet fragrance, something lovely like him, like roses, jasmines, and gardenia.” Yoongi suddenly notices the spiralling steam coming out of the golden cauldron, how there’s a mother-of-pearl sheen on the surface. There’s only one potion that can perfectly capture such bewitching scents, specific to each person.

“It’s Amortentia.” Yoongi mutters. Maybe he’s lucky, and Namjoon didn’t hear what he said before. 

“Oh, that makes sense! You figured it out so easy…” Namjoon trails off and the lightbulb goes off in his head. So yeah, Yoongi is never lucky and Namjoon definitely heard what he said.

“So, Jiminie? Didn’t know you liked the cute ones, hyung.” Namjoon teases. He’s leering across the table and Yoongi is not dealing with this. No, no, because Amortentia is a love potion. Not a lust potion. And that means Yoongi’s obsession with Park Jimin goes beyond, like, hormones or something. This means Yoongi has _feelings_. He has feelings for Park Jimin.

  


  


The clutter in the music room oddly adds to the character. The Frog Choir had requested Yoongi accompany their repertoire list. But he found himself unable to practice, his heart calling for something different. His fingers had been itching to compose this little idea for weeks now, something sweet and soft. Something pretty and light in tone but deep and heavy in meaning.

At the orphanage, the piano was a short spinet, the keys colored by time, but enchanted to be forever in tune. At the Jeon Manor, the upright piano was taller than him when he first arrived with a squishy purple bench. At Hogwarts, he plays a grand piano. The lid props up on its own and the black keys are darker than the night sky. 

Now that he’s sitting in front of a piano, his hands flow over the keys naturally. The notes start quiet, then crescendo and Yoongi hits a harsh discordant triad when he realizes that yup, he’s thinking about Park Jimin. Which shouldn’t be surprising, since he’s always thinking of Park Jimin. Except perhaps when he’s around him, but that’s only because his presence rids him of the ability to think all together. 

The piece is for Park Jimin, a small thing that barely breaches into the depths of Yoongi’s just-realized feelings. It feels like a big deal, probably more than it is, but ever since catching the intoxicating fragrance of the Amortentia, it’s constantly on his mind.

The sounds of steps knock him out of his stupor, and Yoongi looks up to see Taehyung entering the room.

“So, Namjoon told me something very interesting today.”

Namjoon was such a gossip. He really didn't seem like the type, but Yoongi thinks it has something to do with his impulsiveness, the lack of filter between his thoughts and words. Perhaps that’s what made Namjoon seem so intelligent, that he was brave enough to speak what was on his mind without second thought. Or stupid enough, depending on your perspective. Seokjin, Hoseok and Jeongguk indubitably knew at this point. When Seokjin drank too much firewhiskey and confessed to his summer fling with a muggle boy, the whole group found out in hours. They had taken sadistic pleasure in cracking jokes for months. So yeah, maybe Yoongi should've expected confrontation, but he always was an optimistic idiot.

“Something interesting about a _pretty_ someone?” Taehyung teases, but it’s not unkind. He was overprotective of Jimin, well aware of the obsession that his best friend inspires. Yoongi is just glad that Taehyung isn’t beating him up for being infatuated with his best friend.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Really. Okay. I already knew before, since you’re so obvious. But I came to give you some advice.”

“Still don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“Chim always thought that Hogsmeade would be the perfect place for a first date, but he’s never had the chance to go, since he doesn’t have permission. I’m sure if someone really liked him, though, they would find a way, right?”

  


  


Yoongi shifts his weight, looking out the window, watching Jimin says goodbye to Hoseok and Taehyung. His heart feels all warm, watching Jimin laugh and smile so carefree, revealing an endearingly crooked tooth. When Jimin finally waves one last time and turns toward the castle, his shoulders falling morosely, Yoongi snaps out of it, and follows Holly to meet him. He can feel his palms sweating and his throat feels dry. This was it. Namjoon spent twenty minutes laughing/giving him a pep talk before this, and Yoongi really, really would rather not, but he was going to. Park Jimin wants a cute date to Hogsmeade, so that was what Yoongi was going to give him. 

“Holly! Cutie, cutie, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Where’s your pretty owner?”

Yoongi flushes. Jimin couldn’t possibly mean him, right? Pretty wasn’t the word one would usually used to describe him. Something along the lines of sharp or unconventional were much more common. But Jimin’s inadvertent compliment gives him a boost of much, much needed courage. 

“So I heard you want to go to Hogsmeade?” Yoongi croaks. 

“Y-yeah?” Jimin responds. He looks a little nervous. 

Yoongi’s vocal chords give out on him, as he watches the flush high in Jimin’s cheeks and his green scarf wrapped around his neck to protect from the autumn chill. He looks so small. Instinctively, wanting to protect someone so precious, Yoongi’s hand darts out to grab Jimin’s, wrapping around his shorter fingers lightly. At this point, Yoongi is winging it as fuck, since nothing is really going the way he planned in the mirror this morning. 

He approaches the statue of the one-eyed humpbacked witch on the third floor. He had spent hours tracking down and sweet-talking Jeongguk this morning, because inexplicably, that kid knew everything there was to know about the castle. And yup, he somehow knew the pathway to Hogsmeade. Jeongguk had spent a good ten minutes gloating the information, then another ten minutes teasing when he heard it was for Park Jimin. His instructions were ridiculously obscure, just enough so that Yoongi believes him. 

“ _Dissendium_!”

For a moment, nothing happens, and a mild panic attack is about to ensue. But then, just like Jeongguk said it would, the statue’s hunched back reveals a stone slide. Yoongi releases a silent sigh of relief. It would have been terribly awkward to have to explain to Jimin his incompetency at, well, this. Courtship. Romance. Dating. Dying.

He’s still lost in his thoughts when the humpback closes behind them, leaving the pathway in the dark. Jimin releases a soft little noise, and then, and then, there’s a warmth connected to Yoongi’s right arm. There’s a squishy Park Jimin burying his cute face in Yoongi’s shoulder. It takes his mind a minute to revive, and when it does, Yoongi realizes that Jimin is scared, which is adorable, and mildly concerning. 

“ _Lumos_!” Like an absolute noob, Yoongi’s voice cracks in the middle of the incantation. Light bursts from his wand, and Jimin’s fearful expression is revealed. It’s still unfairly attractive. He feels the urge to bundle him up in a blanket burrito, make hot chocolate and watch Spongebob like he does when Jeongguk has a nightmare. 

“O-oh! Sorry, hyung!” Jimin’s angelic voice sounds flustered. In the brightness of wandlight, the blush darkening his cheeks is clearly visible and so cute. Yoongi feels a tinge of sadness when Jimin leans away from his arm. It would’ve been optimal if they spent the rest of their lives touching like that, but that’s inconsequential, because now they’re walking down the pathway together and Yoongi has no idea what to say. Fuck, the family trait of coconut social intelligence is returning.

“Does this lead to Hogsmeade, hyung?”

“Yeah, it’ll take awhile. Why can’t you go the normal way, Jimin-ah?” He’s inappropriately proud of his coherence. Jeongguk could take lessons from him; yesterday, the kid had spent five minutes stammering when Taehyung loosened his tie. 

“Oh, I didn’t get my permission slip signed.” 

“Oh,” Jimin’s voice is faux casual, a tenseness that Yoongi wants to alleviate. “Well, hyung can always take you through here, okay?”

“Normally, I spend Hogsmeade weekends with Jeongguk. He’s too young to go. But today he decided to practice for the Quidditch game next weekend instead.”

It’s still not out that Jeongguk and Yoongi are brothers. He feels the sudden urge to confide in Jimin. His brother was fearful of telling people, even still, and Yoongi wants to respect that. But he also feels burdened by the kid’s inability to trust in Yoongi’s ability to take care of himself, and Jimin looks like a good listener, like he would care and encourage him.

Honeydukes is as cloying as always. The sickeningly sugary scent is dizzying, but Jimin looks ecstatic, and that’s really all that matters, all that ever will matter. He darts from chocolate to candy, lingering on the Fizzing Whizbees, Sugar Quills and the Acid Pops. He pats his thighs, and Yoongi realizes he’s checking for a wallet. But this was a date - maybe? If he buys something for Jimin, does it become a date? That doesn’t quite sound right. Since he’s the hyung, he buys butterbeer for Hoseok and Namjoon all the time. But either way, he wants Jimin to be happy.

The streets are bustling. Yoongi slows down as they approach Madame Puddifoot’s. Going to Madame Puddifoot’s would mean this was a date. But Yoongi doesn’t want to be the one to suggest, in case it’s not, so he. Just sort of pauses right in front of the store, and leans down to pretend to pick something up. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, and he must be sending panic signals, because Holly appears once more and distracts Jimin’s attention. 

But Jimin is still laughing, his dazzling eye-smile wide, so Yoongi can’t really bring himself to care.

  


  


Roses and jasmines still sweeten the air where he was perched. Yoongi doesn’t know where he went wrong. 

No, that’s not true. He does know. He knows he was a stupid, hopeful idiot. So blinded by his own feelings that he didn’t realize that Park Jimin didn’t care about him. Not like that, never like that. 

His beloved piano keys are wet with his tears. Before, Yoongi thought the moonlight casting shadows was romantic. Now, he thinks it’s just sad, being shrouded in darkness, his sobs echoing in the room.

Belatedly, he wonders if Jimin had been aware of his feelings all along. Wonders if Jimin had someone he was sweet on, someone who made him blush and his heart flutter. There was no one worthy of his attention, but Yoongi would respect them, whoever they were. Jimin was his own person. Yoongi can’t imagine how violated and disgusted he must be. It hurts to think about Jimin scared under his covers, probably feeling guilty for leaving Yoongi alone, because that was the kind of person he was. He must feel so embarrassed, wanting to avoid Yoongi but scared to hurt his feelings.

He’s alone in the room, and his heart feels alone in the world.

His heart cracks a little more each time he remembers the look on Jimin’s face. How his twinkling eyes sparkled at first in the light while listening to Yoongi play. Then how they had clouded with panic and fear as Yoongi let the words he had been holding back for so long gush out of him. Jimin’s fingers had tightened on the bench, and for a moment, Yoongi thought that Jimin... reciprocated. That he would look at him the way the sun and the moon look at each other.

Yoongi realized now how incredibly foolish he had been. To him, it had been a cheek kiss and a romantic date to Hogsmeade. To Jimin, it had been an accident and a friendly outing. Jimin was his dongsaeng, Yoongi was his hyung. Jimin was supposed to feel safe around him, protected, not like how Jimin felt under the watch of the rest of the school. He was two years younger, probably scared to reject someone older. Yoongi had been a creep, feeling things for him and making him so clearly uncomfortable.

Yoongi feels Holly’s magic right before he kicks the door open, entering the room with Seokjin on his heels. Yoongi was blessed to have a kneazle like Holly, one so sensitive to his emotions, who knew how to make him feel better. Seokjin sits down next to Yoongi on the bench, his pink nightgown splayed out on the bench. 

“Yoongi-ah.” 

Seokjin wraps one strong arm around him, and Yoongi’s shoulders shake. 

He hates emotions, hates to want things, hates Jimin - 

Except that he doesn’t hate Jimin, quite the opposite, and that makes him hate himself.

  


  


It’s a Monday, a month after he began avoiding Jimin, when Yoongi finds out. He’s sitting at the Gryffindor table with Seokjin, far, far from where Jimin is eating at the Slytherin table. He doesn’t need to turn around to know that Jimin is cutting his waffles into tiny squares, then drowning them in blueberry syrup before topping the whole thing with a mini tower of whipped cream, eating each piece proudly. Then, he’ll drink a sip of pumpkin juice and take two sausages to eat on the way to Divination. 

Seokjin is mysteriously absent, leaving Yoongi with Namjoon. Ever since his failed confession and consequent breakdown, the elder had been an unwavering pillar of support. At the Yule Ball especially. Jimin had looked so lovely in his dress robes, a bright red that brought out the flush of his cheeks and his dark eyelashes lining his eyes. His presence was consuming in its intensity, his footwork beautiful. He was enchanting, and after, Yoongi had desperately danced with his childhood best friend to forget, trying to enjoy the moment. Trying to forget how Jimin’s eye-smile had spread across his face, because Yoongi most definitely would never be able to make him smile like that, no matter how desperately he wanted to. 

Yoongi is sulking, as he so often does these days, when he notices Seokjin approaching the Slytherin table, and talking to… Park Jimin? That’s. Odd. Park Jimin looks haggard, and frightened. He’s nodding, and follows without hesitation when Seokjin gestures for him to leave. 

This is suspicious. The Great Hall is buzzing the way it does when there’s new, juicy gossip.The kind of deliciously scandalous gossip that everyone takes secret pleasure in. Seokjin’s barn owl, Jjangu, drops the Daily Prophet on the Gryffindor table, and the woman on the cover catches his eye. 

Her features look familiar. The swell of her cheeks, the fluff of her hair and the way her eyes overflow with happiness makes Yoongi’s chest twinge. When he opens the cover, skimming the story, his heart drops and he turns to gape at the spot Jimin had once occupied in a new light. A hopeful light.

  


  


“So, yeah. That’s what he thinks, that you’re just under his, um, spell or something.”

Jeongguk had stopped Yoongi in his hurried search of the aisles in the Library, ruffled as though he had run from the Forbidden Forest, which, he probably had. His face was serious as he explained the stupidity of the one Park Jimin. 

“Thanks, Jeongguk-ah. really.” 

The kid smugly assumes a smirk, leaning forward conspiratorially, “He’s walking down the second-floor corridor with Namjoon-hyung right now. If you’re fast, you can catch him, hyung.”

Yoongi turns around and takes off quickly, waving his arm in thanks. It doesn’t occur to him how exceptionally bizarre it is that Jeongguk just has that information. Maybe it’s a Ravenclaw thing. 

Right before turning the corner, Yoongi stops, catches his breath. Tries to fix his hair, which doesn’t quite work, because in that moment he hears Jimin’s voice. His dulcet voice, indignantly talking to Namjoon. Holly has appeared out of nowhere, wrapping his tail around Yoongi’s legs in support. 

The scenery is lovely, the golden sunlight dripping into the blue sky, spotted with fluffy clouds. 

But it’s nothing in comparison to Park Jimin, who looks rather like an angel. Yoongi drinks in the sight of him, memorizing the way he shines bright and hair fluffs, like it always does. 

“Jimin-ah.” His name escapes like a prayer. 

“Yoongi-hyung. Hey. Um.” Yoongi is about to inject, spill out his words before he loses his courage, but Jimin interrupts him. “I have something to show you, come on.” 

The full vibrancy of Jimin is still too much for him to handle, so Yoongi just follows, follows him into an empty classroom. He wants to say something, anything, but he’s helpless, watching the younger play a song from his wand. His song for Jimin. 

Jimin is facing Yoongi, inhaling deeply before beginning to move. He dances, first small and subdued, then larger and faster, cleanly transitioning with such emotion, Yoongi is scared he’s going to drown. It’s so soft. It’s exactly what Yoongi feels for Jimin. 

He’s moving across the space like he belongs there, like he does with Yoongi’s heart. Lithely, his eyes closed, with smoke trailing behind, Jimin spins and stretches before pausing in the center as the song comes to a light close.  
There’s a spark of hope lighting in Yoongi’s chest as he stares at the beautiful boy in front of him. 

“I choreographed it for someone, Yoongi-hyung, because I care a lot for them. Their existence is inspiring and I wanted to honor that. I wanted to honor them now, and for the rest of their life, if they’ll let me.”

Yoongi is staring at the boy he loves. 

“I know it might be too late, and that, you probably don’t want to be with a half-breed, especially one that tricks people, manipulates people like a snake. But I didn’t say it before, so I’m saying it now. I’m not worth it, but if you decide to. I want.” Jimin stutters a little, his cheeks burning brighter and brighter. 

Yoongi takes in a fortifying breath. “Jimin. Jeongguk told me that you think that what I feel for you isn’t real. But,” Jimin looks like he has something to add, and Yoongi only has so much bravery, so he continues “that’s clearly not true. Hyung thought you were the most beautiful boy in the world from the first moment. Jimin-ah, I love you. Didn’t you know? Love is the most powerful magic on Earth. Love is stronger than any magic you may have. Love is worth the world, Park Jimin, and so are you.”

Yoongi is looking at him, dazed like always. Jimin falls forward, fingers curling in the fabric of Yoongi’s shirt, to kiss the boy he loves, the boy who loves him.

  


  


**Author's Note:**

> the quoted part from the Daily Prophet is from harry potter wiki lol
> 
> check out my taekook companion piece/other fics!
> 
>  [let's chat on tumblr :D](https://thebestofmee.tumblr.com/)


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